Q:
HOW WERE YOU INTRODUCED TO GOLF?
My dad grew up playing the game. He turned pro
A: at a pretty young age. He did that for a little bit but just realized that the grind of playing tour golf, trying to make a cut, make a living, wasn’ t as glamorous as maybe people thought. So he went back home with my mom to Victoria, B. C., to become a teaching pro.
Just growing up around the golf course, being around my dad, you’ re constantly there, constantly having a golf club in your hand. You’ re at the driving range, the putting green, driving around on the course— that’ s sort of how I grew up around the game and fell in love with it at an early age.
WHEN DID YOU START PLAYING COMPETITIVE GOLF?
Probably around 11 or 12 years old, I started to play some tournament golf in the area, starting with the junior club championship. Then I started to go into the city and started playing our provincial tournaments. I probably competed in the tournaments until I was 15.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES OF THOSE COMPETITIVE DAYS?
Tournament golf is a different animal. The pressure of playing with people you’ ve never played with, knowing that every swing is important, and the pressure of that at a young age … I learned so much about the game and about competing. I was fortunate enough to win our city championship— I think I was 13 years old. That was one of the great individual accomplishments of my golf career. I was a junior club champion a couple of times at the club I was a member at. You take a lot of great lessons and values from playing tournament golf at a young age.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP AROUND THE GAME?
It was really cool. My dad was such a good player. He held the course record at our home course for a while. He shot 63 there. With your dad being able to play as well as that, and just watching him out on the course, it was great. And he was so involved in the golf community. He opened a driving range with Russ and Geoff Courtnall, who were two longtime NHL players. I remember being there for the opening of that and watching Russ and Geoff take slapshots with their hockey sticks at golf balls, which was really cool. Then
I remember growing up, and he started the University of Victoria golf program from scratch. Canadian university golf is not a huge thing— nothing like the United States. At the time, there were only a handful of teams across Canada. So to watch him grow that from the ground and have them competing for national championships, as a young kid I just watched in awe— not only of his playing, but of his teaching and coaching at UVic. vsga. org S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2025 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 27